Three generations killed in bus crash

Investigators examine the scene of the bus crash on Highway 38 east of Mentone on Monday. Seven people were killed in the accident Sunday night as the tour bus returned from Big Bear. STAN LIM • THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

Investigators examine the scene of the bus crash on Highway 38 east of Mentone on Monday. Seven people were killed in the accident Sunday night as the tour bus returned from Big Bear. STAN LIM • THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

Of the seven people who died in Sunday’s tour bus crash outside Big Bear, three came from the same family: a physician at a Tijuana government clinic, her 13-year-old son, and her mother.

Elvira Garcia Jimenez, 40, had joined a group of colleagues in signing up for the day-trip from Tijuana to see the snow. She took along her only child, Victor Cabrera Garcia, and the boy's grandmother, Guadalupe Olivas, 61.

Garcia had practiced general medicine for the past year at the Las Palmas Clinic for Baja California state employees in Tijuana, part of a health care network known as Issstecali. She was among a group of seven employees of the clinic and three of their family members who were on the bus, said Samuel Gasca, a spokesman for Issstecali.

“We are very sad and mourning for them,” said Georgina Garcia, the boy's aunt. Victor had just celebrated his 13th birthday and was avid fan of the Tijuana Xolos soccer team, she said.

The San Bernardino Coroner’s Office identified them as San Diego residents. The Mexican Consulate there said that they were Mexican citizens.

Gasca said that four employees of the Las Palmas clinic who had joined the trip suffered injuries. Two of them, both females, remained hospitalized on Tuesday, he said. One of them, a receptionist, was being treated at Arrowhead Regional Medical Health in San Bernardino while the other, a physician, was at Riverside Community Hospital.

On Tuesday, the coroner’s office released the identity of the the last victim, 24-year-old Liliana Camerina Sanchez Sauceda of Tijuana. She had joined a group of six friends, including her brother; except for her, all survived. Two additional victims whose identities were released late Tuesday are Rubicelia Escobedo Flores, 34, and Mario Garcia Santoyo, 32, both residents of Tijuana.

The Mexican government has been working with families of those dead victims who were Mexican citizens to return their bodies to Mexico, said Carolina Zaragoza Flores, head of the Mexican Consulate in San Bernardino.

At least four of the fatalities were Mexican citizens, she said Monday night. Several of the passengers on the bus held dual U.S. and Mexican nationality, Zaragoza said in an interview.

Those released from hospitals were being taken to a local hotel, she said, and the consulate was making travel arrangements for anyone whose families were not able to pick them up, she said. In a statement Tuesday, the consulate said that it would put the families in touch with attorneys to represent them in any legal proceedings resulting from the accident.

The Tijuana company that organized the trip, Interbus Tours and Charters, remained open for business on Tuesday. It is one of a half-dozen travel agencies in Tijuana that specialize in arranging tours to U.S. destinations for Tijuana residents, to places such as Disneyland, Universal Studios, Sea World and Las Vegas.

Big Bear is a popular trip, Garcia said: “It’s the snow, it’s very appealing at this time of year.” Sunday’s trip included 36 passengers, the driver and the guide.